In that time, the fleet of roughly 200 cars has driven more than 1 million miles and taken 30,000 trips. And Uber officials, at the company's Strip District Pittsburgh headquarters Wednesday, said they're planning to make improvements in transparency and comfort.

Vehicle operator Paul Galon rests his hands just below the car's steering wheel as it navigates city streets. The cars are programmed so that grabbing the wheel, or engaging the pedals, immediately gives the driver control again.

Credit Sarah Kovash

Currently, the self-driving cars are accompanied by two operators in the front seat, who make sure the car is running as safely as possible. The company wants to scale this back to one operator per vehicle through the remainder of 2017 and into 2018.

The cars are programmed so that grabbing the wheel or engaging the pedals immediately gives the driver control again.

Other updates are for the user experience, such as a screen in the back that shows what the car sensors see. There will also be less hardware in the trunk of the car for passengers to store luggage or large items.

"The first thing we do is of course make sure everyone is safe," he said. "Following that, we start an investigation ourselves."

A screen in the back seat of Uber's self-driving cars shows passengers how the car's cameras perceive objects on or along its path. Other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists show up in orange and move in real time.

Credit Sarah Kovash / 90.5 WESA

Zych said the company obtains data from the vehicles involved to see if the software or operators were at fault in the incident. He says so far, there's been no incident where that was the case.

However, a survey by bike advocacy group Bike Pittsburgh, found that most cyclists and pedestrians like the idea of self-driving cars. They don't block intersections, make Pittsburgh lefts or get road rage.

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Between the nose of one of Uber’s shiny self-driving Volvo XC90s and one of Pittsburgh Tour Company’s hop-on-hop-off double decker buses was the cyclist. Through the windshield, his confusion was plain to see: He craned his neck, first left, then right, trying to see around the bus to figure out why it had come to a stop at a green light on Penn Avenue in the Strip District.

Travis Kalanick, the combative and embattled CEO of ride-hailing giant Uber, has resigned under pressure from investors at a pivotal time for the company.

Uber's board confirmed the move early Wednesday, saying in a statement that Kalanick is taking time to heal from the death of his mother in a boating accident "while giving the company room to fully embrace this new chapter in Uber's history." He will remain on the Uber Technologies Inc. board.